*{EU Enlargement: Losing or Gathering Momentum? [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/EU%20Enlargement%3A%20Losing%20or%20Gathering%20Momentum%3F?open&topic_id=300350000&theme_id=300] 01.07.2001 European Economic Summit 2001} This year’s panel on European enlargement reflected the changes, which have taken place during the last several months in Eastern and Central Europe. Not only have Baltic countries like Latvia joined the group of front runner accession countries but the European Economic Summit has also brought the heads of government from Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia together for constructive dialogue for the first time in over a decade. Günter Verheugen, Member of the European Commission, emphasized that both the Union and the candidate countries have passed the point of no return. He stated that if the current window of opportunity is wasted the entire process could be set back for up to ten years. According to Verheugen, the European elites must stand up and fight for further unification. The “big issues are no longer self-selling”, he stated. The panel was unified in its appraisal that the setbacks facing enlargement are largely related to convincing the populations of Europe that further unification is in their individual and community interest. Slovenia’s Prime Minister, Janez Drnovsek, appealed to the Irish people to recognize how much they had profited from EU membership and urged them to now give their neighbours to the east and southeast the same chance. Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland, explained that the only way to move public opinion from the domestic or national level into the European arena is to help the people on the street catch up with the business community. The need to involve the NGO sector is crucial, he maintained, including both social and cultural stakeholders on all levels of society. Estonia’s Prime Minister Mart Laar on the other hand maintained that the question of whether enlargement is losing or gathering momentum is not the point. Only after Gothenburg, was the entire process up to speed, according to Laar. Many citizens of the accession countries now see the “acquis communitaire” more as an inscrutable handbook than a user-friendly manual, according to the Estonian prime minister. The business community has a special interest in keeping enlargement on track, said Summit Co-Chair Percy Barnevik of Investor AB, Sweden. He compared the European Union to a bicycle, stating that either we continue to move forward quickly or we will slow down and eventually fall over. According to Barnevik, the overall outlays necessary in Eastern and Central Europe would remain significantly lower than the price paid for southern enlargement 20 years ago; countries like Germany must realise that their experience in reintegrating Eastern Germany was not typical. Ion Iliescu, President of Romania supported this position. While maintaining that the accession of Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Greece had established a precedent for South-East Europe, he emphasized that the main problems are not of a financial nature, but more related to the building of new structures and markets fit for Europe. Latvia’s President, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, reiterated that enlargement simply makes the issues that the EU needs to solve anyway more evident. She thanked the Swedish presidency for pushing the process forward, thus demonstrating that true leadership and political will are the key to future success. Real disagreement became evident when the issue of transition periods was brought up. Verheugen stated clearly that both Slovenia and Estonia should not expect a better offer than the seven year waiting period for labour migration now on the table. To demand more would simply create an impasse that is in nobody’s interest. Slovenia’s Drnovsek rejected the EU Commissioner’s “take it, or leave it” position outright. Seeming to speak for many of the other panellists, he stated that his country would soon be a net receiver of labour migration from the EU and that Slovenia is not about to “close this chapter” on the transition issue. Attempting to patch things up, Barnevik pointed out that Spain and Ireland had quickly moved from being emigration to re-migration countries. He urged the accession countries to accept transition periods now, highlighting the fact that as soon as the labour migration waiting period is in place the number of years would certainly be quickly reduced according to performance. Austria’s President Thomas Klestil reminded the audience that not only the continent, but the entire world is in need of strong European leadership. European values have been a beacon against fear mongering in the past and Europe must again play a key role in the global arena. Vladimir Ryzhkov, Member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, added that Russian values are also an integral part of a common European value system. He warned against the tendency in certain quarters to underestimate the need for a long-range approach to uniting all of Europe. Ryzhkov questioned the wisdom of recreating a new boundary, again dividing Europe into two parts. This, he stated could easily demotivate the reformers and thus undermine the entire unification process. The presence of the Croatian President and Serbian Prime Minister on the panel demonstrated the powerful role that dialogue can play in overcoming borders. Serbia’s Zoran Djindjic appealed to the business community to help replace the forces of disintegration with a new spirit of European integration. For the first time in its history, South-East Europe now has a real chance to live in peace and prosperity. Croatia’s President Stjepan Mesic supported this position, stating that the countries of the region should not become the captives of geography. Agreeing with Estonia’s Mart Laar, Mesic stated that if Europe was to be open to all, acceleration is the only option. *{Contributors: Barnevik Percy Djindjic Zoran Drnovsek Janez Iliescu Ion Klestil Thomas Kwasniewski Aleksander Laar Mart Mesic Stjepan Ryzhkov Vladimir Schwab Klaus Verheugen Günter Vike-Freiberga Vaira}